In the last ten days, the Ravalli County treasurer's office has gone through a maelstrom of controversy, with the suspension of treasurer Valerie Stamey, and her accusations of wrongdoing against county commissioners and other officials.

UPDATE - Tuesday, January 28 4 a.m.

News partners NBC Montana/KECI-TV are reporting that Ravalli County is late in sending the state of Montana a tax payment of nearly $4.5 million. Clerk and Recorder Regina Plettenburg has said that payment will be made as soon as possible, hopefully before the state levies late fees that could total tens of thousands of dollars.

 

District Five Commissioner Suzy Foss said on Monday, January 27, that now that the dust has settled, the treasurer's office is back to handling it's everyday duties.

"The treasurer's office handles motor vehicle issues, such as taxes, vehicle licensing and registration, transfer of titles and things like that," Foss said. "On the other side, the tax office handles preparation of tax bills, printing, mailing and collecting the taxes. The funds are then deposited and entered into the county's system and then directed to the entities where they have to go. Some are federal government, some are local entities. It's a very big and complicated system."

Foss said the office is in good hands.

"Things are under control," Foss said. "We have someone from our treasurer's office and our clerk and recorder working together to keep the office open and functioning and secure. We're very blessed to have Regina Plettenburg, who is our elected clerk and recorder, a wonderful person who has really stepped up to the plate. She has been working with the staff to keep things moving forward. Their whole goal is just to get everything caught up to date, and get all the information out to our citizens."

Foss said the commissioners will be receiving an update on the status of the treasurer's office at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 28.

"We'll be meeting with them at least once a week to keep track of the office," Foss said. "In the meantime, we are hoping that the upcoming investigations will be far-reaching and comprehensive, and I believe the county attorney's office is working on that, to get that going as soon as possible."

Ravalli County Treasurer Valerie Stamey was suspended with pay last week, pending a pair of investigations that County Attorney William Fulbright said would be carried out by agencies outside the county to ensure impartiality.

Stamey has contacted KGVO Radio about a possible appearance on the Talk Back talk show.

Ravalli County Commissioner Suzy Foss

 

 

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